The New Creation teaches us that someday God will be nearer to us than he is today, but he will still be as holy as ever. God does not want to be separated from us. Rather, God’s holiness in the New Creation will require that we draw near with worship, reverence, love, obedience, surrender, and devotion, as he requires today.

In my two recent posts we have been exploring the meaning of God’s holiness with regard to his being set apart and separate from us. Here are the questions I’ve wrestled with. If God’s holiness always necessarily requires separation, as at Mt. Sinai and in the temple, why is the story line of the Bible about God’s efforts to bring us near? How could Jesus come near and touchable? How could the Holy Spirit live in us if God must be separate? How could Jesus promise, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23)?

We saw in the last post that God does not always require separation, but he does always require to be set apart in our hearts. He is holy because he is worthy of continuous reverence, worship, obedience, surrender, love, and devotion. That is the response Jesus calls for in John 14:23, quoted above.

We have seen how the incarnation of Jesus, and his atoning death, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and Pentecost revolutionized God’s separation from humans. In this post we look at one final revolution, for God intends to come closer still. In the New Creation he plans to end the separation of heaven and earth.

The climax of the story: God’s holiness in the New Creation

Revelation 21:1–5 says:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new….”

Revelation 22:3–4 says,

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.

In the Old Covenant era, God had told Moses, “You cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). But in the New Creation “they will see his face.” What a change from Mount Sinai! God’s holiness hasn’t changed, but we are changed.

Because of the perfect redemption brought about through Jesus Christ and completed in the New Creation, God’s holiness will not require distance from his holy people. The holy Father will be with his holy children before his throne.

God will be set apart on his throne of glory for worship, reverence, love, devotion, obedience, and surrender, but he will be with us forever. And all his people will see his face.

Our way versus God’s way

Our way: Fallen people do not want to set God apart for the unique worship, reverence, love, obedience, devotion, and surrender that he alone deserves. Fallen people want other gods. They want to treat God as little different than his creation. They want to approach God on their terms. Fallen people want to bring God down to their level. They do not want to treat God as unique and special.

God’s way: God wants to be with us, but he always requires a respectful distance, as a king on his throne. He is always set apart over anyone or anything in his creation, though he is near and dear. This is part of what we mean when we say God is holy.